Switch.



H. D. HINCKLEY.

SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED `001214, 1911.

I H. D. HINGKLEY.

SWITCH.

yAPPLICATION' FILED 0OT.14,.1911.

Patented Feb. 1 1, 1913.

2 S'HEETSvSHEBT 2.

UNITED STATESv PATENT OFFICE. HENRY D. HINCKLEY, F HAETFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR JOHN BHHART, 0F

` HARTFORD, CONINECLICUT.

SWITCH. I

Patented Feb. 11,1913. Application led Getober 14, 1911. Serial No. 654,623.

1,052,920. Specification of Lettersatent.

rear section of a box or casing as 6, provided with a drop front 7, said box being generally made of metal; it may, for instance, be made b v casting, although this is not essential. The drop'front is hinged or otherwise suit- 60 ably fastened Nto the upper wall ofthe box or casing 6 and is normally held shut by a spring catch Sor some equivalent device. lVithin the box 6 I have represented several bosses or hubs as 9, there being four such bosses 65` or hubs. Threaded into said bosses or hubs 9 are bushings as 10'which are usually made of some insulating material such for example as fiber. Threaded or otherwise suitably {it-ted into the bushingsV 10 are 'I0 socket pieces as 11 constituting terminals' and which are preferably but not necessarily made of metal, and these socket pieces 11 are adapted in the construction shown,

to receive coperating terminalsas studs 12 75 projecting rearward from and through `the carrier of the switch mechanism, being generally rigidly connected to said carrier. The t between the studs 12 and socket pieces is a tapered one so as to insure a solid, 80 firm relation therebetween. On the upper and lower walls of the box 6 are shown hubs or bosses 18 which are customarily but not necessarily made integral with said box and into these bo-sses 13 may be fitted the con- 85 duits ordinarily found in buildings for housing and carrying wires such as 14. These Lwires 14 can be, as will be clear, led into and from the boxk or casing 6 by way .of said bosses 13, and can be Vconnected with the 90 socket pieces 11 thelower wires, as willv l be clear, being connected to the lower socket1 pieces, while the upper wires are likewise connected to the upper socketpieces, b v first baring the wires near their Iinner ends 95 and then wrapping or coiling the bared portions about/the Shanks of said socket pieces, the heads of said socket pieces being adapted to press the coiled portion of the lwires firmly against the bushings 1() or against a 10C washer thereon. There will be when the To all whoml z't may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY D. HINCKLEY,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hart-ford and 5 State of Connecticut, have invented certain 4 new and useful Improvements in Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invent-ion relates to switches, one of theprimary objects of the invention being to provide an effective and safe article of this character ,by which the switch proper or circuit controlling member can be Amoved with rapidity and positively from a circuit-closing position to thereby prevent arcing, such Vmovement being preferably in a straight line.

Another Objectis the provision of means whereby the switch mechanism can be readily mounted upon or removed from a back board or equivalent.

The device includes several other features of novelty and advantage which with the foregoing will be set forth at length in the following description lwherein I will `outline in detail that form of embodiment of the invention, which I have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying andA forming part of the present vspecificaf tion. From the statement `just made it will 30 be clear` that Ido not restrict kmyselfto such showing. I may depart therefrom in several respectsv'within the scope of the invention included in the claim following said description. i

Referring to said drawings: Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of a switch involving my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, and, Fig. 3 Vis a horizontal section of the same. i 4-0" Like characters refer to like parts ,throughout the several figures of the draw- 1n s. r v

IThe switch mechanism; as it might be considered, involves in its make-up a suitable carrier 5 which may be made of any suitable materialbut which usually consist-'S of alblock or sheet of insulating material: s uch as ber, porcelain or the like. The switch proper,

.as will hereinafter appear, is directly supF ported by this carrier or body 5. In the present instance this carrier is removably. connected in some convenient manner as by screws or bolts 5 with a suitable back piece vwhich may be of any suitable nature but which as shown consists of the bottom or switch mechanism is dismounted, a break between the two sets of socket or contact members 11, and when thevswitch mechanism is in place, as will hereinafter appear,

the switch member proper or circuit con` troller when in circuit closing position, wilh bridge the breaks thereby to put the two sets of lwires leading into and out of the casing 6 into electrical connection. It will 110 and closing positions.

be assumed that there-is some trouble with thel switch mechanism, and in this case it may as a unit be removed for repair. lln such an event two conductor members can be utilized to bridge the breaks between the `building as a permanent part thereof, during the construction of the building' so that when it is necessary the switch can be mounted-in place by simply inserting the posts or studs 12 in the appropriate. socket pieces 11.

The switch proper or circuit' opening and closing member is preferably in thef form of' an insulating block or strip 15v having a straight movement during circuit opening "Such a form of switch is very effective in that rapidity of action is assured during thecircuit breaking movement, so that possibility of arcing is reduced to the minimum. In the constructionshown said switch or circuit controlling member 15 is perforated at or near its opposite ends to receive and slide upon the fixed .guide rods or studs 16 generally arranged in parallelism provided with the buffers 16 and as shown extending outwardly lfrom the carrier 5 and held in place thereon by screws 17 countersunk in the rear surface of said carrier. Encircling the two guide members 16 are coiled push-springs 18, the inner ends of which engage the carrier 5, while the outer ends thereof engage the circuit controlling niember 15. ln Fig. 3 the circuit controlling member 15 is shown/in its circuit opening position into which it was moved by the Isprings 18. To close the circuit as will hereinafter appear, said circuit controlling, member is thrust inward and on such action the springs 18 are compressed. AWhen the 'circuit controllingimember 15 is in said circuit closing position, it is positively held therein vand a suit-able detent or latch is provided for this purpose; When the latch is' tripped,.the springs are adapted to instantaneously throw said member 15 in an outward direction, so that the circuit will be so rapidly broken as to eectually prevent arcmg. v

The 'carrier is shownprovided with binding posts 19 to which the outwardly extending clips or cont-act members 2O are connected, and withka substantially similar pair of contact members or clips 21, the several clips being adapted to receive between their resilient'branches the parallelknife members 22 rigidly fastened to the inner side ofthe circuit controlling member or switch proper 15.

- noeaeao `for this purpose. lThe wires 23 are placed in channels 23 in the back of the carrier which channels are adapted to be filled with wax, cement or other suitable insulating substance to cover said wires 23. It will, therefore, be

clear that when the controlling member 15 or bridging parts 22 fit between they branches of the several clips 2O and 21, the wires la leading into andout of box or casing are thus put intov electrical` connection when the switch mechanism is in operativerelation. `As previously intimated the circuit co-ntrolling member 15 is positively held in its circuit-closing position and to obtain `this re sult a latch as 25 may be provided and as will. hereinafter appear said latch may betripped manually or electrically or in fact in any other desirable way. As shown the latch 25 is pivoted at its butt or inner end t -the `carrier 5. Fastened to and-depending from the controlling-member 15 is a plate 26 which has in its lower or free edge the slot or notch 27 to receive the bent portion of the latch 25, said latch being provided with a stop portion or shoulder 28 to. engage the upper. wall of said slot ornotch 27 when the controlling member 1 5 is in its circuit closing position, and as Vwill hereinafter appear the latch 25 is positively moved, as by a spring, to its operative or effective position. It will be assumed that thecircuit controlling member 15 is thrust inward until such point as thedetent portion 28 of the latch can engage thecatch portion of the keeper plate 26 at which time said detentpo-rtion will by the spring hereinafter described be thrust in frontof 4 said keeper plate to hold the part 15 in cira spring 32, the other enclof said spring being fastened in the top of the box B3.

This box 33 in addition to incasing the spring 32 also serves as abuifer for receiving the shocks of the circuit controlling member 15 when the same is pushed inward. It will beassumed that the circuit controller 15 is thrust rearward until the catch or keeper plate 26 is engaged by'the latch 25. It willv be assumed that necessity arises for breaking the high tensioned circuit controlled by the member 15. In this event the magnet 4insulating material.

29 is energized by closing the battery circuit, which thereby attracts its armature 30 and consequently trips the latch 25. The instant said latch is tripped, the keeper plate 26 is released as is the controlling member 15, by reason of which the springs 1S can instantaneously thrust the circuit controlling member l5 outward to break the main circuit. The electro-magnet 29 is shown inclosedby the box 34 of insulating material, the sides of which are extended upward between the'guide members or rods 16, so that the said boX in addition to serving to incase the electrofmagnet 29 also acts as an insulating means. The free end of the lever 25'is provided with a removable inger piece 35 preferably. of some suitable The lever 25 can, therefore, be tripped at any time-by hand. To move the circuit controlling member l5 rearward, the knob 36 may be provided, said knob preferably but not necessarily being made of insulating material and being fastened to the pin or stud 37 which extends through a slot in the 'out face .plate 7 Iand is tapped into the circuit controlling member l5. The stud 37 can, therefore, be removed, and when it is, it is not possible to operate the member 15 when the boX 6 isclosed.

A switch involving my invention can be used with advantage in any connection where such articles are ordinarily employed, although'said switch is of especial utility when employed in connection with an engine stop or such .like life saving appliance where 'rapidity of action is a necessary factor. It is conceivable that the latch to which I have already referred might bev tripped at all times by hand to effect the release of the circuit controlling member. I prefer in addition to this manual control to provide for electrical government, and when the switch isused in combination with an engineI stop or something equivalent I will arrange inafa'ctory on each ioor a large number of push buttons or equivalent means for closing the local or Vbattery circuit to thus energize the battery and thereby effect electrically tripping of said latch. Another point to which I might call attention is thev wiring is necessary, everything being already wired. The only point. required for the individual who puts the carrier 5 or its equivalent in place Mis to see that the terminals on the rear of said carrier are properly introduced into the appropriate socket pieces or some other like connectioumade so as toput the parts ongthe carrierinto electrical connection with those on the back of the boX 6 or analogous part.

.What I claim is:

A switch comprising a casing, a pair of parallel, rigid guide rods in the casing, an

insulating block supported by said guide rods for back and forth movement, spring f means acting against the block to constantly move the same in an outward direction, two pairs of clips in said casing, blades connected with said block and adapted to enterfbetween said Mclips when the block is in its inner position, a shank connected with said block and provided with a knob at its outer end, the casing having an opening through which said shank extends, a latch mounted in the casing, the latter having an opening through which the latch extends, and said block being provided with a Idetent engageable by the latch to thereby hold the. block in its inner position, and an electromagnet,

the armature of which is supported by said latch.

In testimony whereof I atix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY D, I-IINOKLEY. Witnesses:

- HEATH SUTHERLAND,

F. E. ANDERSON. 

